Here we go again...

I never thought I'd say it, but I really hate the sight of kittens. Nothing against them personally, but every kitten I see reminds me that if the mother had been sterilized we wouldn't have to deal with another unwanted litter. And yes, at this point they're all unwanted (we have thousands upon thousands of feral cats and kittens in Miami!!).

When I was leaving my house last night to feed the colony cats at UM, I saw three little bodies in the bushes across the street. And I know exactly which cat is the mother, and why we're now in this situation. It's been a constant battle with my neighbor to get the cats around his house all sterilized, and the mother of this new litter is the one that he kept releasing from my traps because it was "his indoor pet". Yep, despite being outside 75% of the time he still claimed it was an indoor pet. But I'm not going to get into all that because it makes me too angry... right now it's all about finding a solution.
Anna and I schemed last night about how we're going to get all these furry babies and the mama sterilized and vaccinated without him knowing about it, and I think we've come up with a crazy plan that just might be crazy enough to work. We're going to dress like cat burglars (get it?! yeah, I'm a dork...) and sneak over there in the middle of the night (around 1am) and set out my drop trap (because it's quieter). I know exactly where the kittens are nesting, and feel that the power of tuna will compel them to walk under the trap. Then with a quick pull of the string, and some silent moving of the family to carriers, we'll be off with our kitty prisoners (although when I say prisoners I mean that in the most spoiled, cared for way possible...). The cats may all need to recover elsewhere since I'm sure once my neighbor catches on he won't be too pleased, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. This is all on him. If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem, and this guy is a major problem.

The kittens are still too small to be sterilized, so we may need to wait another 2 weeks or so before we can put this plan into action. But I think that just gives us more time to perfect our plan of attack, and learn my neighbors night time schedule. Maybe I'll watch a little more ManTracker too to improve my hunting skills:)

UPDATE:
I was being too conservative when I said there were only three kittens... I guess it was wishful thinking. This afternoon I counted five. Our mission just got a little harder, and all the more necessary! While the current plan is to return them to the outdoors, if anyone out there is willing to take these little babies in I'd be more than happy to help socialize them after their sterilization/vaccinations.